Brad Hiles

Serving businesses for 35 years, Brad has a national practice in the areas of OSHA/MSHA defense, labor and environmental law. He represents clients primarily in the manufacturing, energy/natural resource and food/agriculture sectors. Within these industries, he has developed a reputation for rapid, in-person responses to workplace fatalities or catastrophes during government investigations. He is commonly called upon to “triage” OSHA and MSHA citations within 24 hours to enable clients to formulate settlement strategies.

Our next webinar “rewind” brings us to a recent presentation on whistleblower strategies. Whistleblower complaints filed under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Mine Safety and Health Act are on the rise nationwide. How should you handle disgruntled employees to minimize risk?…

Although MSHA and OSHA are members of the same governmental group, their respective areas of authority and the industries affected by them can cause misperceptions. In a recent article via ROCK Products, Safety and Health attorneys Brad Hiles and Ben McMillen explain the inter-agency agreement between MSHA and OSHA, outline “blurred line” cases and the factors typically examined by courts and commissions in such cases.…

by Brad Hiles and Ben McMillen
It can be challenging enough to comply with all of the regulations that apply to your business. What if you don’t even know which safety agency’s rules apply? Which enforcement agents will show up at your door? In some industries, the line between MSHA and OSHA jurisdiction can be complicated and blurry.…

On December 17, 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that its Environmental and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) will increase efforts to work with the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to investigate and prosecute crimes related to workplace violations. According to the DOJ’s Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates, “On an average day in America, 13 workers die on the job, thousands are injured and 150 succumb to diseases they obtained from exposure to…

Hidden away in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (2015 Budget), signed by President Obama on November 2, 2015, is an obscure provision that will raise the maximum penalties for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violations for the first time since 1990. The financial ramifications of the significantly higher penalties may change how employers evaluate whether to contest OSHA citations.…